Hi and welcome!

> I am a biolgy student here at university and I thought I would give my
thoughts on male contraception.
My partner and I depend on my oral contraceptives. While I know that
a male equivalent more than likely will not be readily available to us
in the immediate future, I still believe that shared pleasure=shared
responsibility. Male contraception would also open doors for women
who for any reason cannot accept birth control hormones. I think it
is particularly important for men who want to take responsibility for
contraception without permanent sterilization.

> Even though my future lies in medical research in ob-gyn--of which
contraception is a part--I think that expanding the horizons of male
contraception beyond barrier methods would be a gargantuan step
towards improving both male and female reproductive health.

I'm all for expanding choices too, but ther are a couple of large hurdles to
overcome. Firstly, the technology is a long way from usable. The male pill
in it's current form is experimental, and has more disadvantages than
advantages currently. The supressant to stop the testicles producing sperm
is testosterone, and this has serious side effects including gynomastia
(growing breasts), mood swings (yes, I know we do that anyway!) and an
increase in prostate cancer. Other methods currently fare no better.

There is also a large barrier that is limiting major research - namely
female acceptance. I've known women still insist on taking the pill even
though their husband has a vasectomy with confirmed sterility! My wife
wouldn't trust me to take the male pill, and she wouldn't rely on it anyway.
Her argument is that it would be her that got pregnant, so it's her that has
to take the responsibility for birth control. I don't think that this is
unusual, so the pharmacuetical companies think the market is limited, so
don't put too many resources into development.

But like you, I'd like to see more choices available.

David
www.vasectomy-information.com




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